Organovo names Idec savior to board

Howson played a critical role in San Diego's biotech industry by saving one of San Diego's most important biotechs, Idec Pharmaceuticals. Without her willingness to invest in Idec, neither the company nor the drug Rituxan it was developing would have survived, said William H. Rastetter, then chief executive of Idec. Thanks to her help, both Idec and Rituxan went on to become biotech legends.

As senior vice president of business development of SmithKline Beecham, Howson provided Idec with $3 million to help close a funding round. At that time, in the early 1990s, Idec had only secured $3 million in tentative commitments, and investors had demanded that amount be matched, or the deal was off.

Rastetter recounted that heart-stopping incident and dramatic rescue in 2006.

"On a pricing call, the coordinating banker said, 'Bill, a deal cannot be done.' That essentially meant that we were dead," Rastetter told an audience at the San Diego Investment Conference.

Idec had just two months of cash left.

Rastetter asked the banker to remain on the line while he placed an urgent call to Howson.

"I said, Tamar, I need $3 million - now!

"What'd she say? 'Sure'!

"Boy, she had the courage of her convictions. Tamar is the reason that Rituxan got on the market, because without her, we would have closed the doors, turned out the lights and gone home," he said.

Howson was the first of the "white knights" who saved Idec, Rastetter said. They helped bring Rituxan to market, and establish a centerpiece of San Diego's biotech industry.

Today, Idec itself is gone, merged into Biogen as Biogen Idec, and headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. Rastetter parted ways with the company to remain in San Diego. He's now chairman of Illumina, another local biotech company. Last week, Illumina dedicated its expanded headquarters, on a site purchased in 2001 for Idec's headquarters.